Annual Reports

Yu Shiwen

According to CFP (29 May 14), RFA (27 May 14), and RDN (30 May 14; 15 July 14), on May 28, 2014, public security officials detained Yu Shiwen and his wife Chen Wei at the Zhengzhou No. 3 PSB Detention Center in Zhengzhou city, Henan province on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb order in a public place.” Yu and Chen had reportedly gone missing on May 23. Yu and Chen had reportedly organized a memorial service in Henan on February 2, 2014, commemorating former Communist... Read more...

Pu Zhiqiang

According to RDN (6 May 14; 7 May 14) and Xinhua (6 May 14), on or around May 4, 2014, public security officials took lawyer Pu Zhiqiang into custody at his home in Beijing municipality. On May 6, authorities criminally detained Pu at the Beijing No. 1 PSB Detention Center on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” On May 3, Pu had attended a seminar with other lawyers, scholars, and family members of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen protests. Participants reportedly discussed the impact of... Read more...

Liu Xiaobo

On December 25, 2009, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced prominent intellectual Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison for inciting subversion. The Beijing High People’s Court denied his appeal on February 11, 2010. Prosecutors said Liu drafted and organized Charter 08, signed by thousands of Chinese and calling for political reform and protection of human rights. Liu was also punished for six essays he wrote that were posted on overseas Web sites. Read more...

Xu Zhiyong

On January 26, 2014, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court announced via Weibo that it had sentenced Xu Zhiyong to 4 years' imprisonment for "gathering a crowd to disrupt order in a public place" (CL, art. 291). Authorities had confined Xu, a leading rights advocate and proponent of the New Citizens' Movement, to his home in Beijing municipality for 3 months prior to criminally detaining him on July 16, and formally arresting him on August 22 (NYT, 17 July 13, 23 August 13). Read more...

Ilham Tohti

According to Reuters (16 January 14) and AP (17 January 14), on January 15, 2014, security officials detained Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti at his home in Beijing municipality. Tohti's wife reported around 30 police officers participated in the raid, seizing computers, cellphones, and other items. On January 16, a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman stated Tohti was "criminally detained" on suspicion of "committing crimes and violating the law" (BBC, 16 January 14). Read more...

Liu Di

According to CHRD (6 May 14; 9 May 14) and RFA (12 May 14), on or around May 6, 2014, public security officials in Beijing municipality criminally detained writer Liu Di on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Officials transferred Liu to the Beijing No.1 PSB Detention Center. On May 3, Liu had reportedly attended a seminar with other scholars, lawyers, and family members of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen protests. Read more...